5 stars

Israel Ingham’s life has never been easy. He grew up in a house devoid of love and warmth. Nothing he ever did was good enough. The fact Israel is gay just added to the long list of his father’s disappointments.

Then a letter from Eastport Children’s Hospital changes everything.

A discovery is made, one of gross human error. Twenty-six years ago two baby boys were switched at birth and sent home with the wrong families.

Sam, Israel’s best friend, has been his only source of love and support. With Sam beside him every step of the way, Israel decides to meet his birth mother and her son, the man who lived the life Israel should have.

Israel and Sam become closer than ever, amidst the tumultuous emotions of meeting his birth family, and Sam finds himself questioning his feelings toward his best friend. As Israel embraces new possibilities, he needs to dissect his painful relationship with his parents in order to salvage what’s left.

Because sometimes it takes proof you’re not actually family to become one.

Why do I continue to allow N.R. Walker to surprise me? There has not been one of this author’s books that I have been disappointed in, even ones that I would likely not have picked up if someone hadn’t said “read this!” And yet, I continue to be surprised by this author each and every time I read her books. She writes with such passion, and shows such character growth, that I wonder if she has a degree in human psychology, and if not, then she truly understands human emotion.

This book could have easily been a trope of “man finds he’s switched at birth, and falls in love with the man he was switched with”, which would have left me the feeling of a Hallmark movie. Instead, it was a story about family. It was about how one event, more than two decades before can determine family, how you see family, and what makes a family whole.

Switched was not your average male/male romance. It was a story focused on the growth of one character, Israel, after a circumstance that is almost impossible to understand all of the ramifications of. It also happened to have a hot, sexy lawyer who Israel realized he was in love with…and damn, those were some HAWT sex scenes.

In the end, though, to see how Israel found a way to love his parents, and to love himself, as well as letting in the love of another family, was heart warming. Israel worked hard to get there. It wasn’t a snap fix, as can sometimes happen in similar books. He was willing to put in the effort, and believe in what he could see of himself, and his family. The author gave the reader what they needed to really understand this character, time to learn where he came from, time to see where he was headed, and how he made himself get there. The journey the author brings you on sets you up from the beginning to understand how much change Israel needs in his life to feel whole, and to feel loved.

I cried several times in the book. Sometimes happy tears, sometimes tears of sadness, but as always the tears that N.R. Walker can so often bring to my eyes. She works magic in books that I only find with a few authors. I promise I will NEVER doubt again!!!! 🙂

Broke and overstressed, Orlando is doing everything he can to get his life and mental health back on track–and score a date with shy-but-sexy Geoff before the new year. But when the biggest mistake of Orlando’s life reappears on his doorstep with the daughter he never knew he had, he has to drop his plans of romance and focus on what’s important: the eight-month-old baby now depending on him.

“It’s not every day someone has to learn to be a dad literally overnight.”

But Geoff isn’t giving up on that date he was promised, baby or no baby, and his adorably dorky charm is enough to sweep Orlando off his feet. Geoff seems too good to be true–patient, generous, smart, funny…he even adores the baby who’s suddenly become the center of Orlando’s world, and his sure and steady hand helps ease the new dad through the panic-inducing trials of parenthood. All that can’t come without a catch.

“Nothing good ever happens this fast.”

Even as their lives intertwine, Orlando is convinced Geoff is way out of his league, and Geoff has his own reservations. Falling too hard, too fast is a recipe for disaster, but neither man can help getting a little carried away. If they want to truly turn their ragtag group into a family, both of them will have to face their insecurities in this sweet and steamy holiday romance.

Did ya see the cuteness of the cover? I mean… did ya?
Go take another look…. I’ll wait….I know… cute, right?!
I would have got this book for the cover alone, that’s how adorable it is.

Okay, okay… now, onto the story… It’s just as cute and made me tear up a time or two; so I’ll just give you the gist without trying to give too much away….
Orlando is kind of a mess. He’s trying to get his life together after a long week of self-medicating for his anxiety and depression issues gets out of hand some months back… 8, to be exact. He’s got a job, even though it’s not as much hours as he needs, he’s got a small, one bedroom apartment, even though it’s not in a great neighborhood and a car that seemingly on it’s last leg…. he’s doing it though; he’s doing it and he’s pulling himself up, slowly but surely.
Every day on his way to work at a local gym, he goes to a coffee shop where he spotted a guy who goes in there to do some work on his computer…. his anxiety makes it hard for him to make the first move, but he does it…. and to his surprise, Geoff says yes!

Unfortunately, the night they’re supposed to go out, a woman he barely remembers shows up on his doorstep with a sick little girl in a crappy carseat and tells him she’d be better off with her daddy; and that’s that. She leaves. Don’t worry though, this isn’t the kind of story where she comes back right when we all fall in love with her and tries to yank her away from her daddy…. It’s not like that, really there is little angst at all in this story and I loved that. I’m not an angsty reader…

Geoff though, he’s great. He’s endlessly patient and supportive and caring and he helps Orlando so much while he tries to get the hang of this dad thing. Unfortunately, again…. he’d been in a relationship… a long relationship with someone who had bipolar disorder and he was a little anxious about being in a relationship again with someone who has mental health issues. It was understandable, especially after he explained; but… it kept the niggling doubt in the back of Orlando’s head, because he wanted to be good for Geoff, not another person he felt like he had to “fix”….

So, there are some bumps in their road, but overall; it’s just a cute, feel-good, christmassy kind of read. I really really enjoyed it and was so glad they got their happily ever after. I would love, love love to see more from these two and their gorgeous daughter Noelle.
I’m such a sucker for hot guys and babies…. sigh…..
5 well deserved pieces of eye candy from me.

Casey Cameron lives in a rare urban center in the U.S. Midwest, where she can be found among her fellow deviants writing porn in coffee shops. She writes contemporary and paranormal gay romance and erotica with diverse characters, sex-positive relationships, and subversive themes, and apparently has a penchant for writing about men cooking for each other.

Angel Daniels grew up hard, one step ahead of the law and always looking over his shoulder. A grifter’s son, he’d learned every con and trick in the book but ached for a normal life. Once out on his own, Angel returns to Half Moon Bay where he once found… and then lost… love.

Now, Angel’s life is a frantic mess of schedules and chaos. Between running his bakery and raising his troubled eleven-year-old half brother, Roman, Angel has a hectic but happy life. Then West Harris returns to Half Moon Bay and threatens to break Angel all over again by taking away the only home he and Rome ever had.

When they were young, Angel taught West how to love and laugh, but when Angel moved on, West locked his heart up and threw away the key. Older and hardened, West returns to Half Moon Bay and finds himself face-to-face with the man he’d lost. Now West is torn between killing Angel or holding him tight.

But rekindling their passionate relationship is jeopardized as someone wants one or both of them dead, and as the terrifying danger mounts, neither man knows if the menace will bring them together or forever tear them apart.

I love Angel and Wes so much. I really wasn’t sure about Wes after the last book, but boy oh boy this book changed my mind. These two are intense together. Angel spent his early life in an unstable environment, but he worked hard, and got his shit together. I love his attitude and personality. Wes made me like him in this book. He was more relateable and human as the story went on. He started to make me feel for him. These two guys together was explosive in the best possible way. As with all of Rhys’ stories there was the murder and mayhem element of it that was highly entertaining. This was a rich and complex story with excellent first and secondary characters. I really enjoyed getting to see some of Zig, Deacon, and Lang.

Talon Valdez knew when he transformed into an enhanced human, his life and his dreams were finished. Reviled, mistrusted, and often locked away, the enhanced were viewed as monsters, despised by the public, and never trusted to serve in the military or any law enforcement agency.

Years later he gets a chance to set up a task force of enhanced to serve in the FBI, but with one proviso: each enhanced must partner with a regular human.

Finn Mayer dreamed of joining the FBI from the time he was fourteen and made every possible sacrifice to make it happen, including living with his selfish mother and bullying, homophobic brother and never having a boyfriend. But his undiagnosed dyslexia stopped his aspirations dead in their tracks. His last chance is to partner with Talon, an enhanced with deadly abilities who doesn’t trust regular humans with their secrets and wants Finn to fail.

Four weeks to prove himself to the team. Four weeks for the team to prove itself to the public. And when another group threatens their success—and their lives are at stake—four weeks for them to survive.

No, I wasn’t gonna go all Bonnie Tyler on you. This is far more my style.

“Heroesmay not bebraver than anyone else. They’re just braver five minutes longer.”

And yummier…

But I digress…We’re talking about Finn, Talon, And Superman.

So how did Superman get into my book? He snuck in… He actually appears the first time on the front of Finn’s boxer shorts.

When Talon undresses him.

And takes him to bed.

Okay… so Finn is actually asleep at the time, but still.

Talon did his best not to stare at the lithe little body that followed Drew out, remembering how it felt in his arms the night before. Talon had tried to shake him awake at first when he came back from the bathroom, completely stunned he was still there. He looked like shit. Talon could see the dark shadows under his eyes and his own blood that stained Finn’s pants and his shirt. The jacket had been discarded.

In the end, Talon just picked him up. Then what did the kid do? Instead of lying there while Talon took him to his spare room, he moaned softly and curled up in Talon’s arms, burrowing his head in the crook of his neck. Talon had nearly groaned right back, and had hurriedly laid him down on the bed. Finn had let out a deep sigh, and Talon just stood and stared and thought about how uncomfortable he looked. With resignation he’d undone Finn’s pants and slid them off his hips. He’d chuckled softly when he saw the Superman shorts. He would bet any money Finn had never wanted another living soul to see those.

My Superheroes:

Talon – 29 years. Developed his ability at adolescence as is common with enhanced humans. Comes from a politically motivated family who decided that instead of acknowledging they had an enhanced son decided to lock him away in an insane asylum as a child and then pretend he didn’t exist as an adult.

Finn – 24 years. Has dreamed of joining the FBI since he was fourteen, survived but his poor test grades due to undiagnosed dyslexia stopped it happening until one day he gets a call from the FBI about a new secret unit being set up.

All Talon wants to do is change public perception. He wants to stop any other enhanced child going through the same as he did. He wants to stop the bigotry and mistrust and hopefully turn the monsters that the public see into heroes.

He has two problems with that. He’s given a regular human partner that is well, too breakable. Talon’s ability is deadly, and Finn is at risk.

He also has to keep a huge secret from Finn. Their abilities are evolving, changing. If the public found out, being locked up would be the least of their problems. Talon and the rest of the team aren’t just fighting for their freedom anymore; they’re fighting for their lives.

Drew took another swig of his bottle.

“I know I’m being set up to fail,” Finn said. “I know full well the only reason I’m here is because the agency wouldn’t take me normally. I’m dispensable.” He grinned to soften the words. He didn’t want Drew feeling guilty by shooting down his dreams.

Drew sighed. “Caught that, did you?”

Finn smiled, but he couldn’t help the twist he felt in his gut at having it confirmed. Seemed like everyone knew. “But you’re already a trained agent. The failure of this team isn’t going to impact on your career, surely?” He was convinced there was something Drew wasn’t saying. “Tell me about the others who didn’t make it.”

Drew looked up, startled, and Finn’s stomach took a quick dive. That was it. His innocent question to keep Drew talking had hit on something. He waited patiently.

Drew started. “You’re the fourth that I know of.”

“All already agents?”

“Yeah. One of them—Hillier—was a close-combat specialist, and even he couldn’t put Vance down. That’s his ability, Vance.”

“Close combat?” Finn queried.

“No, incredible strength. Think Superman-type shit.”

Finn blinked. Wow. “To be honest I kind of thought most of the abilities were exaggerated on TV. I mean, how come they’re not set on world domination or some such shit?” He was joking, but he shut up when Drew didn’t laugh. Okay, so he was officially getting a little more freaked out.

“Because there’s not enough of them, and so far the incidence seems to be confined to the US.” Drew played with the label on the bottle. “What do you know?”

“The first kids were born in the seventies. There’s been no cause identified. Suspicions vary from everything from genetics to pesticides,” Finn replied promptly. “There have been some major crimes reported. There was one guy who raided banks…. Something to do with being able to crack computer codes. Another who seemed to be able to do something with explosives. But there hasn’t been anything major since the task forces were implemented.”

“All that is true, and because the circumstances were very isolated, no major panic has happened. The government has never tried to initiate any sort of testing without consent, despite the law affecting the deceased.”

Finn nodded. They passed a law ten years ago stating any enhanced would be subject to special postmortems. There were a few religious groups that made a fuss, but Finn was surprised at how little people seemed to be disturbed.

“I don’t think I would get into trouble telling you this, but we’ve had at least fifteen years with the rate of transformation being very low. You know transformation….”

“Yeah, yeah,” Finn quickly agreed. That was when the enhanced first developed their abilities and the mark on their face, usually around adolescence.

“And you know the enhanced are sterile?”

Finn swallowed. He heard that on the news. Actually he heard some religious nut saying it was God’s wrath, punishing the abominations so no one else had to suffer.

“Thing is, when they found that out, it was as if people weren’t worried anymore. Aliens or super beings weren’t going to take over the world.” Drew chuckled. “I think that’s why we never had a mass panic on our hands or anything.”

“But you’ve got some super beings,” Finn argued.

“Yeah, and no other law enforcement agency will touch them. Gregory thinks that’s very shortsighted.”

He has a point, thought Finn. “I guess a lot of the abilities are being kept out of the news. What you said about Vance, for instance. First I’ve heard about anything like that.” And the thing Talon did in Gregory’s office, which was downright scary.

“Yes, the government has been downplaying things for years.”

“So why did none of the trainees work out?” Finn finished his beer and waited to see if he was going to get an answer.

“Two failed the standard questions on the first day.” Drew grinned. “At least I know you passed those.”

Finn hesitated. “You do?” He cleared his throat.

“Yeah. You wouldn’t still be here. Seriously, they didn’t tell you? That sucks.” Drew finished his beer also and stood. “The third one had a massive argument with Talon and quit. Said he wasn’t working with murdering freaks.”

“Wow,” Finn said. “And the fourth one? You said there were four.”

“I didn’t tell you.” Drew almost glared at Finn.

“Okay.” Finn’s heart sped up a little.

“I’m not sure exactly, but I think Eli lost control.”

“What happened?”

Drew shrugged. “Look, it’s not for me to say. I wasn’t there. All I know is that Michaelson was carried out of the gym on a stretcher with severe burns and never came back to work.” He grabbed his car keys off the table. “Six weeks ago.”

This new world Victoria Sue has created is pretty damn epic in my opinion. It has an X-MEN feel to me which makes me love the story even more.

There is a part of the human population that begins to show traits of being ‘enhanced’, which means they develop certain abilities, and it can show up at any age. First they develop a mark on their cheek that distinguishes them from the normal every day human and then they start to show unique powers, so to speak. Some even develop multiple abilities. These enhanced humans are feared because they are so different and in a world filled with hate and prejudice they are shunned and mistreated. Having that mark on their cheek also keeps them from being able to blend in with the normal every day human so they are not able to hide who they are. Most people believe the enhanced to be a threat so they struggle to live and be granted even the most basic of human rights.

Finn and Talon are brought together when a new task force is created combining humans and enhanced to show the world they are capable of working together. Finn has had a rough life and despite his dyslexia he has strived his whole life to become an FBI agent. Talon is distrustful of everyone except for his fellow enhanced team members and has had a pretty crazy life himself. He disliked Finn on sight and I enjoyed seeing Finn break down his walls throughout the story.

The emotions with this are crazy so be ready. Victoria Sue had a fantastic idea when she created this world. She has a cast of amazing characters with different traits and personalities. Each of them has a story to tell and I can’t wait to see where this series goes. I definitely enjoyed this story and it gets 5 pieces of eye candy from me.

Wrote her first book on a dare from her hubby two years ago and he says he has regretted it every day since. Loves writing about gorgeous boys loving each other the best, and especially with either a paranormal or a historical twist. Had a try at writing contemporary but failed spectacularly when it grew four legs and a tail. Loves her wolves!

Is an English northern lass but is currently serving twenty to life in Florida – unfortunately, she spends more time chained at her computer than on a beach.

Loves to hear from her readers and can be found most days lurking on facebook.

Master Captain Theodore Gourdin has always loved the ocean. But his devotion to maritime life left little possibility for a long-term relationship. After two failed marriages, Theo gave up on finding the person who completed him and decided the sea was his soul mate. When offered the opportunity to captain the newly launched megayacht Eternity, Theo jumped at the chance. With Eternity’s maiden voyage looming, Theo focused all his energies on hiring his crew and readying his ship. The last thing he expected was to finally lose his heart in the process.

After twelve years at sea, First Officer Heath Rawlins was restless and in need of a change. A gay seaman’s life could be a lonely one, but to Heath the positives far outweighed the negatives. With excellent recommendations and an impressive résumé, he was quickly offered a position on the private megayacht Eternity. Heath’s heart skipped several beats when he finally met the ship’s captain. He was handsome and charming. And… familiar? Had they met somewhere before? Highly unlikely. But as smitten as Heath was with the gorgeous captain, everything inside him screamed, Abandon ship! Rough seas ahead!

Oh my goodness, I am so glad I read this book. Amazing doesn’t cut it. This isn’t they type of story I would normally read, but something called to the romantic in me.

Theo is Captain of a new yacht, Eternity and looking for a crew to man the ship for it’s maiden voyage. Heath applies for the First Commander spot and the two meet for dinner to discuss the job. Instantly both men feel a sense of deja vu, like they must have met before. Heath accepts the job and the two dive into preparations for the voyage.

Both Heath and Theo begin having weird dreams about two men in love named Eddie and Steven. While Eddie and Steven resemble Heath and Theo they aren’t identical. Both men begin to see eerie resemblances between the dreams and the present and a recurrence of the song “Only Forever” which Theo doesn’t remember hearing before but knows all the words to. With the attraction becoming too much to fight, Theo and Heath give into it and immediately feel a sense of completeness. Like they were each half of a whole, waiting for the other.

“How long will I search to hold you again? Only forever… if it takes until then!”

I’m not sure where to begin, I’m probably going to gush. This was a perfect story for me. I love the idea of destined lovers that find each other from one life to the next. The setting was romantic and perfect as was the name of the yacht. Could there be a more fitting name than Eternity?

I loved that there were only a few steamy scenes, it helped lend credibility to the connection between Theo and Heath being more than physical.

My favorite parts were the prologue and the epilogue, heart-wrenchingly beautiful. How lucky would we be to find a love that transcends time? To meet the love of your life over and over again. This is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time.

Gage Synclair, international, hard-hitting investigative photojournalist, is preparing for the final special report of his career…a story of deception and murder six long years in the making. And after ten years in some of the worst parts of the world, he’s ready to settle life down and open an art gallery in his hometown of Chicago. The only thing getting in his way, he needs to find a competent electrician to finish the job before his grand opening.

Trent Cooper, electrical contractor, is surprised by the last minute request for a fast-paced electrical remodel, wanting nothing more than to get his foot in the door with Layne Construction. Being gay in the construction industry isn’t easy, nor is being father to his two young adopted children. Trent keeps his life in separate zones to avoid a short circuit. But when the gallery owner propositions him on the first day, Trent can’t help but think his worlds are a little too close for comfort.

Will their high-voltage passion spark everlasting love or will their lives break the circuit between them forever?

Best Selling Author Kindle Alexander is an innovative writer, and a genre-crosser who writes classic fantasy, romance, suspense, and erotica in both the male/male and male/female genres. It’s always a surprise to see what’s coming next!

I live in the suburbs of Dallas where it’s true, the only thing bigger than an over active imagination, may be women’s hair!

Usually, I try for funny. Humor is a major part of my life – I love to laugh, and it seems to be the thing I do in most situations – regardless of the situation, but jokes are a tricky deal… I don’t want to offend anyone and jokes tend to offend. So instead I’m going to tell you about Kindle.

I tragically lost my sixteen year old daughter to a drunk driver. She had just been at home, it was early in the night and I heard the accident happen. I’ll never forget that moment. The sirens were immediate and something inside me just knew. I left my house, drove straight to the accident on nothing more than instinct. I got to be there when my little girl died – weirdly, I consider that a true gift from above. She didn’t have to be alone.

That time in my life was terrible. It’s everything you think it would be times about a billion. I love that kid. I loved being her mother and I loved watching her grow into this incredibly beautiful person, both inside and out. She was such a gift to me. To have it all ripped away so suddenly broke me.

Her name was Kindle. Honest to goodness – it was her name and she died a few weeks before Amazon released their brand new Kindle ereader. She had no idea it was coming out and she would have finally gotten her name on something! Try finding a ruler with the name Kindle on it.. It never happened.

Through the course of that crippling event I was lucky enough to begin to write with a dear friend in the fan fiction world of Facebook. She got me through those dark days with her unwavering support and friendship. There wasn’t a time she wasn’t there for me. Sometimes together and sometimes by myself, we built a world where Kindle lives and stands for peace, love and harmony. It’s its own kind of support group. I know without question I wouldn’t be here today without her.

Find out more by visiting www.kindlealexander.com or email me at kindle@kindlealexander.com